Several countries across the Middle East and Asia have called on Israel to immediately allow unimpeded humanitarian aid to reach the Gaza Strip, as winter storms and heavy flooding worsen the plight of displaced Palestinians.

In a joint statement on Friday, the foreign ministers of Qatar, Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Turkiye, Pakistan, and Indonesia warned that deteriorating conditions in Gaza have left nearly 1.9 million displaced Palestinians especially vulnerable.

“Flooded camps, damaged tents, the collapse of damaged buildings, and exposure to cold temperatures coupled with malnutrition, have significantly heightened risks to civilian lives,” the ministers said.

They urged the international community to pressure Israel, as the occupying power, to lift restrictions on the delivery and distribution of essential supplies, including tents, shelter materials, medical aid, clean water, fuel, and sanitation support.

Gaza Aid Blockades Amid Ceasefire

Despite obligations under international law to ensure the humanitarian needs of Gaza’s population, Israel has continued stringent restrictions on aid deliveries, even after a U.S.-brokered ceasefire came into effect in October 2025. The ceasefire required Israel to allow hundreds of aid trucks into Gaza daily.

Aid groups and UN agencies have reported obstacles in distributing life-saving supplies, leaving hundreds of thousands of Palestinians in makeshift shelters and overcrowded tent camps. Many homes were destroyed during Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza, and heavy rainfall has led to further flooding and collapses of damaged buildings, killing several Palestinians, including children.

On Friday, Israeli forces killed one Palestinian and injured others near Khan Younis, southern Gaza. In a separate attack, a drone strike in Beit Lahiya seriously wounded four displaced Palestinians, including a woman and two children, according to sources at al-Shifa Hospital.

International Condemnation of NGO Restrictions

The foreign ministers also condemned Israel’s recent ban on 37 international NGOs, citing new registration rules that require organizations to provide detailed information on staff, funding, and operations. Critics argue these measures are arbitrary, violate humanitarian principles, and put Palestinian employees at risk of targeting by Israeli authorities.

According to Gaza’s Government Media Office, Israel has killed approximately 500 aid workers and volunteers since the war began in October 2023.

Doctors Without Borders (MSF), one of the NGOs affected by the ban, said 15 of its colleagues have been killed in Gaza. The group called Israel’s demands for personal staff lists an “outrageous overreach”, especially given the intimidation, arbitrary detention, and targeted attacks on medical and humanitarian workers.

“In any context – especially one where medical and humanitarian workers have been intimidated, arbitrarily detained, attacked, and killed in large numbers – demanding staff lists as a condition for access to territory is an outrageous overreach,” MSF said.

The ministers emphasized that UN agencies and international NGOs must be allowed to operate in Gaza and the West Bank in a sustained, predictable, and unrestricted manner, given their essential role in providing humanitarian aid.